

Probably the bismut has got its name from the german weisse masse (white mass), (saxon: wise must) words, because long time ago in Germany, in the mines of Erzgebirge the miners named this mineral which seemed to be useless that time. Bismuth has been known for a long while, its first written mention in 1450 origins from Valentius Basilius, german monk. Offically in 1753 the french scientist, Claude Geoffroy ’explored’ this rare metalloid mineral, due to its differing properties, previously it was confused with tin or lead. Bismuth is the chemical element with atomic number 83. It issues in nature as a native element and ore mineral (bismuthine Bi2S3, bismuth(III) oxide Bi2O3, tetradymite Bi2Te2S2 etc.), usually in hydrothermal streaks of ore, but also enriches in copper and lead ores. It is the least toxic of the heavy metals, short material, bad heat conductor, not magnetic, it has diamagnetic property. Its natural crystals are rare. We usually can see its synthetically grown crystals, due to the faster growth and the iridescent oxidation (different colors from yellow to blue) they may be very spectacular. It is primarily used as an alloying material in metallurgy, but also in cosmetics and medicines. Largest localities: Bolivia, Mexico, China, Peru, Canada, Japan, Australia.